Back to results
US 8,528,037 B2Granted
Dynamic application loader for set top box
AssigneeCSC Holdings, LLC
InventorRichard Neill
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Set top boxes (STBs) in a cable system are configured on a box-by-box basis to facilitate beta and trial testing of new or updated services. STBs are assigned to deployment groups identified by a deployment group identifier. Features configurations including hierarchies of features can be defined individually for different deployment groups. Configuration files for provisioning the STBs are provided by a cable system head end according to the deployment group the STB is assigned to. STBs can be configured at the time they boot and register with the system or in a “hot” manner to avoid rebooting.
Claims12
A system, comprising:
- a network control system having a communication link to at least one set top box, the communication link configured to provide command/control and data to a plurality of set top boxes;
- a publication system configured to create configuration files to be used by applications executing on the set top box;
- and
- a memory configured to store the created configuration files, and
- a system for provisioning the set top box configured to:
- transmit a configurable deployment group identifier for the set top box, wherein the configurable deployment group identifier is common to a subset of the plurality of set top boxes that have a common characteristic and activates and deactivates on a group level applications executing on the subset of the plurality of set top boxes;
- and
- respond to a request having the configurable deployment group identifier from the set top box requesting a configuration file by sending the configuration file to the set top box in accordance with the configurable deployment group identifier, wherein the configuration file is a boot configuration file that contains data identifying a user interface version, and the system for provisioning the set to box is further configured to download the boot configuration file corresponding to the configurable deployment group identifier, and
- reconfigure the configurable deployment group identifier when the requesting set top box is registered with the system for provisioning the set top box.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.